Red Leaf High (AU)
by LiddoAiren
Summary: I just don't understand it. Everything is in reverse. People who exist now aren't supposed to exist anymore, and people who don't exist anymore are existing now. Also, some of my friends are no longer my friends. This isn't how it's supposed to be. If that's the case, then what is supposed to be? Well, I'll think about that later. Right now, is a fresh start. Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Welcome to the first chapter of my AU! This AU takes place right after chapter fourteen of MSHS, so if you don't know what is going on here, read chapter fourteen.**

**This story will also be interactive, so that means that YOU reviewers will decide the course of the story. The story-related questions will usually be at the bottom of the chapter.**

**Anyway, please read and review!**

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><p>"<strong>Trường...Trường ơi...dậy đi con. Dậy đi<strong>." (Aaron…Aaron…wake up, honey. Wake up)

It's dark…

Why is it so dark? Who is calling me? Why are they calling me? Why does the voice only sound vaguely familiar? Why does it sound like a woman? Why does my body feel hurt all over? Where am I?

Slowly, I opened my eyes. Looking around I immediately realized that something was different. I could recognize my room, the smell of the house, and the feeling of my bed. However, these were not what were different. What was different was the person, apparently a woman, who was standing over me, waking me up.

"You've finally opened your eyes. Honestly, I was beginning to worry that you died in your sleep." She said.

"_What?!"_I thought.

"Now get up and get yourself dressed. You'll be late for school." She said.

"**Mẹ?!"**(Mom?!)

"What?" she asked, almost casually. It was as if nothing had happened over the past eight years.

"Are you shocked at my beauty? I wouldn't be surprised. Even I'm shocked at myself from time to time. I turned out well don't you think?" she laughed, as she began to walk out of my room.

"Why are you even here?" I whispered. I couldn't believe it. How could she have come back from the dead? What happened?

She sighed exasperatedly, "Why do you think? I'm here to wake you up! Now are you going to just stand there like a log or are you going to get yourself ready?"

"Why are you even alive?" I asked her.

…

I received no answer from her. It was as if she didn't hear me at all.

"_Just what is going on?" _This just didn't make sense. The way mom was acting resembled that of having been with us forever, and that itself was impossible, for she died over seven years ago, after she had given birth to Rose.

"_Speaking of Rose, just where is she?"_I wondered. Just then, mom walked back into my room.

"Oh, and honey, before you do anything else, make sure to wake up your sister." She said.

"O-oh, uh…alright. Will do."

"_Whaaaattttt? Rose actually is waking up late today?"_Okaaayyyy, seriously. What the heck is going on here? Rose NEVER wakes up late. As I walked to Rose's room and knocked on her door, I received no response.

"Rose? Are you there?" I asked.

Still, I received no answer, so I just opened the door and walked in…

Only to see nobody inside. Not even Rose herself was in the room.

"Rooosssee?" I called, "Where are yooouuuuu?" As I walked through her room, I saw that at least everything in her room was the same. Her pink queen-sized bed, her different colored hair-ties, her stories, everything.

"_Well, at least one thing hasn't changed…"_I thought. Suddenly, I felt a huge weight force itself on my back.

"Boo!" a familiar voice yelled.

"Gah!" I fell forward, caught off guard by the unexpected weight.

"Hehehe! Did I scare you, **anh hai?**" (Big Brother)

"Scare me? No way. You just surprised me. That's all. What do you think you're doing, pretending to wake up late?" I asked.

"Awwww, I wanted to scare you." She whined.

"Well, now that you're up, you should head to the kitchen and have breakfast." I said.

"Okay!"

"Ah, wait! Rose! One more thing."

"What is it?" she asked.

"Did you know that we have a mommy now?"

Rose just looked at me as if I was crazy. "Duuuhhhh! **Anh hai**, she's been with us forever!"

"Oh, uh…really?"

"_WHAAAAAAAAAAATTTT?! THAT'S IMPOSSIBRUUUUU!_"

"Are you sure?" I asked her one more time.

"Yes!" Rose replied, "**Anh hai**, are you okay? Do you have that thing in your head? You know…am…ameza?"

"You mean amnesia?"

"Yeah! Did you forget everything?"

"No, of course not." I replied, "I'm just a little…loopy. Yeah, loopy."

"Oooookaayyyyy, whatever you say." Rose then headed to the kitchen.

"_Well, now that she's awake, I might as well head down to the kitchen too."_

As I made my way down to the kitchen, recognized the structure of the house. Every window, mirror, ever wall, every room.

"_Good. At least I know that I'm not going crazy. At least I don't think so…"_

Upon reaching the kitchen, I saw both Rose and mom at the dining table, with Rose eating her cereal and mom using her laptop while wearing what looked like a court dress over her work attire.

"Good morning, **con**" she said, as she spotted me, "What would you like for breakfast?"

"_I seriously have to get used to hearing mom's voice again. Man, I seriously missed it."_

"Oh, I'll just have a toast and eggs. Do we have a frying pan?" I asked.

"Yes, but what do you need it for?" mom asked.

"I'm gonna use it to fry my egg of course!" I replied, "Or would you rather have me use something else to fry an egg?"

"You…know how to cook?"

Hearing that threw me off a little. Did she not remember teaching me? It was only because of her that I was able to cook.

"Yeah, I mean, you're the one who taught me how to cook." I said.

"I...am? Oh well, if you know what you're doing than I guess it's okay…"

So I started to fry the egg with the pan that mom gave me. While frying, about a million things were going on in my head.

"_Why doesn't mom remember teaching me how to cook? Where has she been this whole time? Why did she suddenly just show up now? Why did Rose say that she's been with us forever when in truth she hasn't? And come to think of it, where's dad? I seriously have to know what he has to say about , all of this can come later. The food's ready."_

I mostly ate my breakfast in silence, still pondering about what was going on. Looking at Rose and mom, I saw that they were getting along well. Mom was stroking Rose's hair while she finished her food.

"_They're getting along well. Almost too well. This chemistry would be impossible if mom had showed up even just a few days ago…but then, if that's the case, then what is going on?"_

As I finished my breakfast and washed my hands, I finally decided to ask one of the big questions that was bugging me.

"Hey mom, where's dad?"

She then looked at me for a while, like she was trying to figure out what was going on in my head.

"**Trường...con có bị sao không?**" (Aaron, what's wrong with you?)

"**Tại sao mẹ hỏi?**" (Why do you ask?)

"**Trường ơi...ba chết lâu rồi. Khoảng tám năm rồi."** (Aaron…dad died a long time ago. He died almost 8 years ago.)

"Eh?"

"_WHAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTT?! Man, I really should stop doing this…"_

"Aaron, how could you forget? You've lived without one for 8 years. It's been like this after your father…he…***sniff***" Mom put a hand over her mouth.

"_Oh man, she's crying! Think fast, Aaron! What did dad do when he comforted mom while she was still alive! Or wait…"_

I did the best thing that I could do, which was hug mom.

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I brought up such a sensitive topic. I'm probably just a little loopy, that's all. Sorry. Are you okay?"

It took a while for her to settle down, but she eventually did, which made me relax a bit.

"***Sniff*…*Huff*…**Yes. **Cảm ơn con. **Now you should really change into your school uniform. Also, hurry up. Don't embarrass yourself on the first day of school." (…Thank you, honey…)

"_What?! First day of…you know what? Forget it. I'll figure everything out by the end of the day…I hope."_

I ran back upstairs to my room and saw my uniform already set on my desk.

"Huh…it's not the same uniform." The white dress shirt, the black tie and the straight-fit jeans were the same, but what was different was the uniform coat. Well, it wasn't really a coat, it was actually a black sweater vest. I also recognized a different school symbol located on the vest on the left of the chest area, which read "Red Leaf High School."

"_Red Leaf High, huh? So I go to a different school now too."_

As I put on my uniform, I immediately felt the sharp pains return to my body, mostly on my back.

"Ow! Seriously, where did these pains come from?" then I remembered what had happened to me before mom woke me up. "Oh, right. Man, I was beaten so bad that I thought I was gonna die! If that's the case, then…who the heck brought me here? Meh, I'll think about this later."

After I had finished changing, I looked at myself in the mirror.

"_Nothing's really changed about me either. My hair's still 'Gruff and Tough', and I'm still not fat like how I was back then. Whew! Though I have to say, I like my new look with this new uniform."_

"Well, from what I know, it seems like today will be another fresh start. Alright then, let's make it count like always."

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><p><strong>Well, just for fun since it's an AU, what should Aaron's new hairstyle be? (Note: The changes will not be immediate. In the case of hair, it'll have to take some time depending on which hairstyle you choose for Aaron.)<strong>

**Aaron's favorite hairstyles****:**

**Black Metro (Old Hairstyle)**

**Black Gruff and Tough (Current Hairstyle)**

**Black Dragon Tail**

**Black Short Top Tail**

**Black Alex (Dad's current hairstyle)**

**Black Updo**

**Black Fuzz**

**Black Grand-Lionman (Dad's old hairstyle)**

**Black Messy Spike**

**Black Rebel**

**All of these hairstyles are hairstyles inside Maplestory, so if you don't know what they look like, you can look them up on Google.**

**Also, most popular vote wins (This will go for all questions)**


	2. The (First) Day

**Here's the second chapter of my AU. It is as of now that the story cannot move on without the input of readers, so please review! Especially for the previous chapter! I got none for that one :(**

**Aside from making Aaron's choices, you can be harsh in your reviews if you want, it'll help me become a better writer.**

***NOTE: This AU will focus more on the extracurricular aspects of school, like sports, clubs, etc. There will be some educational aspects, just not a lot.**

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><p>"All right, I'm heading to school now," I said, as I tied my shoelaces, "Bye guys, I'll see you guys later!"<p>

"Wait, Aaron!" Mom suddenly dashed over to me, "where do you think you're going?'

"Uh…I'm pretty sure I'm going to school. Why?" I asked.

"Do you even know where your school is?"

"Yeah, of course I-" and then it hit me.

"_Oh wait, shoot. I forgot I don't go to Maplestory High anymore. I go to Red Leaf High now, and I don't even know where that is…argh."_

"uhh…wait, no I don't." I scratched my head.

Mom just sighed in response, "**Trời ơi con ơi**. Of course you don't! You've never even seen it before! Well, hop into the car. Let me help Rose pack her things and I'll drive you there." (Oh my goodness honey…)

Red Leaf High was only a few blocks away from home, and I saw its buildings stand high above me, just like Maplestory High.

"Here you are, your new school."

"Great. Thanks, mom." I opened the car door and inhaled some fresh air.

"So is that it? You're just going to leave?" she asked, "No good-bye kiss or hug?"

I almost chuckled. "Well, it depends on which one you want. The kiss or the hug?"

"How about both?"

"Okay, okay."

After mom had gotten out of the driver's seat of the car, I walked over to her and wrapped her in my arms, while giving her a kiss on top of her head, for her height only reached up to the lower part of my chest.

"Oh come now, that was weak. Are you embarrassed to be seen kissing your mother in public?" she asked.

"Well, yeah! People usually don't do this in public so…" Truthfully, I never felt so happy in my life. The fact that mom was back and still the same. Her smell, her looks, everything about her. I didn't mind giving her another hug or kiss.

"Come on now, that's no excuse. Man up next time! Anyway, school's about to start soon, so you should head to class. I put your schedule and map in your bag just in case you forgot, and if you need anything, call me okay? Make lots of friends!" With that, mom got back into the car and drove away. Before she was out of sight, I saw Rose stick her head out of the back seat and wave at me. I waved back.

"It feels so surreal…" I shook my head "whether it's surreal or not, I'll figure out later. Right now, I gotta focus on my new school."

As I walked through the school's black gates, I took in my surroundings. At the front of the school was a sign that read: _Welcome to Read Leaf High School, Home of the Pillars of Heaven._ Behind the black gates were tall red buildings, club advertisements, and an overall beautiful campus with tall trees and grassland along the sides of the pathways. If anything, Red Leaf high was close to if not as beautiful as Maplestory High itself. Suddenly, the school microphones blared.

"_ATTENTION RED LEAF HIGH! GOOD MORNING AND WELCOME TO THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR! THIS IS A REMINDER FOR ALL FRESHMEN TO PLEASE HEAD TO THE AUDITORIUM, AGAIN ALL FRESHMEN PLEASE HEAD TO THE AUDITORIUM."_

Freshmen to the auditorium, huh? Welp, to the auditorium we go. Since I had no idea where the auditorium was, I just followed the students whom I thought were freshmen to a giant building in the middle of the school, this time alone. No person tapping on me for directions, nothing.

"_Man, I'm getting a weird sense of déjà vu, except something's missing...or maybe someone's missing."_

Upon entering the auditorium, I was met with a warm breeze and a welcome from some upper classmen. In the auditorium were rows and rows of red-cushioned seats, a really high ceiling, and a huge stage covered by two red curtains with outlines of Rosette leaves. Like before, I sat in the middle seat of the middle row, this time alone. Although other students took the seats adjacent to mine, I made no effort to say hello, for there were too many things going inside my head, and I wasn't really sure whether saying "hello" would be a good choice given my state of mind.

Soon, the nearly all of the lights in the auditorium were off, save for the lights on the stage itself. A few seconds later, a man and a woman stepped out from behind the curtains. Both had their hair tied up, both had a clipboard wrapped under their left arms, and both held very imposing looks, as if they were staring right into your soul. The woman then tapped on the microphone twice before speaking.

"Good morning everyone, and welcome to Red Leaf High School. My name is Mrs. Kumi, but I'd rather you call me Boss Kumi since that's what I'll be for your next four years at this school." She said. Then the man walked up to the microphone.

"And I am Mr. Nobunaga, your vice principal, although I do take the responsibilities of a vice principal, I am also a teacher here. Now, as I'm sure you're aware, Red Leaf High School is a rather new school. It was built only a few years ago, and already it is rated as one of the best schools in the entire District. Because of this, I, Boss Kumi, and all of the heads at this school take great pride in the school we're in now, and absolutely will not tolerate any actions that tarnish the school's reputation. In other words, you break the rules, we break your necks. Not literally, but you get the point."

Mr. Nobunaga then stepped back to let Boss Kumi take the microphone to let her explain why the school had uniforms, and which buildings corresponded to which subject. It was almost the exact same presentation as Ms. Alicia's during the first day at Maplestory High, except the subject-building order was in reverse. This time, Science classes were in the 500 buildings, History classes were the 400's, and so on. She then went on to explain why the school had uniforms, how many years of each subject you had to take and the consequences of breaking or losing school property. Basically, it was the Maplestory High School introduction version two, except it came from a different school.

At last, when the introductions and explanations were over, Boss Kumi gave a closing speech.

"Now then everyone, it's your time to showcase your talents and shine as a student and as a person. Now get out there and make new friends, make new memories and most importantly, make history for yourselves!"

Immediately, all of the freshmen came rushing out of the doors. I, on the other hand, fished out my schedule from my bag.

"Let's see…first period I have P.E with Mr. Ika in the gym."

Well, I have absolutely no idea where the gym is and I have nobody to ask for help so…

"Big building near the track, here I come… I just hope I'm right and that's the gym."

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><p>School progressed normally for the rest of the day I guess. I mean, for a first day for a new student, I thought this was a pretty good start to the "new" school year. I didn't get my head smacked on a desk, I made no enemies, but I didn't really make any friends either. After driving me home, mom wasted no time in asking how my first day went.<p>

"So honey, how was school?" she asked.

"It was fine. I was able to find all of my classes without a lot of trouble." I replied.

"**Con co làm bạn không?**" (Did you make any friends?)

"**Không**." (No.)

"**Tại sao** **không?"** (Why not?)

"**Tại vì con không nói chuyện với ai hết." **(Because I didn't talk to anybody)

"**Ai-ya con ơi**, you should be more social! Otherwise you won't have any friends and you'll be lonely for the rest of high school." (Geez honey…)

"Well it's not like I had the chance to be! I was too busy trying to navigate myself around the school!" That wasn't necessarily a lie, Red Leaf High's building orientation was way different compared to Maplestory High's, but I was able figure it out within a day.

Mom just sighed.

"Well, why don't you tell me about your teachers then? What do you think of them?"

"All of them seem like good teachers I guess," I replied, "Mr. Little Dragon teaches History, Ms. Hermoniny teaches Biology, Mr. Ika teaches P.E, Mr. Joe-Joe teaches Algebra 2, and Mr. Nobunaga, the vice principal teaches English. All of them look like they know what they're doing."

Mom nodded her head. "Alright, good. It looks like I placed in a good school."

"Well, I'll take a rest now. Actually, what do you and Rose want to eat? I'll go to the nearest market and buy some ingredients so I can cook dinner later." I said.

Mom stared at me for a couple seconds and then rapidly shook her head. "No, I'll cook later. How does fried rice sound? We still have the ingredients for it in the house, so there's no need to go to the market and waste money."

"That's fine. I'll go take a rest now."

As I headed to my "room", In sat on my bead and slowly rubbed my face.

"_Take a rest? Yeah right. How can I do that when I barely know what's going on? Well, from what I can tell, there's really no way to logically explain what's going on right now. Heck, I'm having trouble getting used to the fact that I'm still here, despite what happened yesterday. My back still hurts, but there are no wounds on my body. Mom is alive, and dad is dead, but Rose is still the same I think. One thing I know for sure is the fact that life with dad was definitely a real experience. I felt the pain of losing mom, of getting hurt, I'm able to recall all of the past experiences. But..."_

I pounded my chest to make sure this wasn't a dream.

"_I can feel everything here too. If that's the case then I can only draw two conclusions; either I as hit in the head so hard that I'm now in a delusional coma or..."_

"Aaron! Don't forget to take out the trash!" mom called.

"_...or the fact that alternate dimensions don't exist is complete BS!"_

"Okay!" I replied.

"_Even so...I don't even know if I should stay here or not. Whether or not this is real."_

**What should I do?**

**1. Live life here to its fullest. I don't know when I'll come back and I probably might not ever. Besides, it's good enough knowing mom's here. (May introduce new characters to the story, most notably Zero.)**

**2. Detach myself from this world. These people aren't real, and I have no reason to interact with them.**


End file.
